While the People’s Revolution in Tunisia and Egypt was largely non-violent, the revolution in Libya may turn more violent as the last of the palace guard circle around Colonel Qaddafi, his family and a small number of people with tribal ties to him.
Throughout the Arab world, governments have been unable or unwilling to open serious discussions on socio-economic policies and alternatives. It is in Egypt that, following the Tunisian example, people have taken to the streets demanding that President Hosni Moubarak must go. The cries of the Tunisian revolutionary movement “Liberty-Work-Dignity” have been taken up by other peoples.
The wave of a peoples’ revolution has swept over Tunisia and pushed President Ben Ali to exile in Saudi Arabia.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Summits are meaningful for their symbolism since all the negotiations have gone on before, and it is important to look beyond the words to what the symbols may mean as new policies.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the independence of most of the French-speaking African states and has been so celebrated in France and in the former French Sub-Saharan African states.
"With the referendum on South Sudan yet to be conducted, it is essential that the government provide an environment conducive to the exercise of political rights," warned Mohammed Chande Othman, a UN expert on Sudan.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019